This recap will have spoilers for Season 2, Episode 3 of The Last of Us, “The Path”

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Hello and welcome to another recap of The Last of Us! This one is a little less heavy and a little gayer than last week, so let’s tap dance right on into it. As always, Nic and I (Valerie Anne) will be discussing this week’s episode in detail, and while we will compare and contrast the show and the video game at times, we won’t spoil what happens in the games past where the show is in the story and we ask that you do the same!

Previously on The Last of Us, Jackson got attacked by a horde of infected, Abby brought a team of friends to enact her revenge, and Ellie vowed to return the favor.

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We open with a sad sequence of Tommy grieving at Joel’s body in the wreckage of Jackson, and we also see Ellie in the Jackson hospital in the aftermath of last week’s episode.

Let’s dive right into the hard stuff.

Nic: In the week since It happened, I found myself randomly thinking about how Joel’s loved ones would respond to his death, and I couldn’t get the potential image of Tommy getting the news for the first time out of my head. So, selfishly, I’m glad we got this last quiet moment with the Miller brothers instead. Even Jackson is silent, save for the smoldering remains of the infected, and the entire sepia-filled atmosphere just added to the somber tone; the epitome of the calm after the storm. When Tommy lifted up the sheet, it reminded me of Ellie looking back at Joel’s body dragging behind them, as if he needed to confirm Joel was really gone. It makes sense that Tommy wanted to be the one to clean and prepare Joel for burial, but it didn’t make watching the care he took with his brother any easier! And dammit the delivery of “Give Sarah my love”?! Heartbreaking. (This is neither here nor there, but I stared at Joel’s watch for maybe too long, and the crack sort of looks like the Firefly symbol to me??)

Valerie: I think it’s so interesting that we got to see Tommy grieving quietly, peacefully, with a focus on his sadness, where Joel often grieved loudly, violently, and with a focus on anger. They say it later in the episode, he often was “lashing out,” while Tommy is in a place where he can take a calmer approach to his grief, probably largely due to being in a calmer setting than Joel has been in. (Though we did see Joel settle down when he got to Jackson, too.) It’s kind of beautiful, seeing that this community not only gives people literal physical (relative) safety, but also the emotional safety to feel their feelings. Which is good because when they pan out from Joel to show how many bodies are in that makeshift morgue, my stomach dropped.

Nic: I swear, when we smash cut to a bustling hospital I genuinely thought this was a flashback to the Before Times or immediately after the Outbreak. But nope! Jackson even has a fully functional hospital and they had dozens of wounded to tend to, including Ellie.

Valerie: I also thought that, but upon second viewing I realized that while they’re using it to the best of their ability, the building itself doesn’t seem to have power. They’re relying on headlamps and strung up basement lightbulbs. Jackson, as a community, is really inspiring, making the most of what they have.

Nic: The last time Ellie was in a hospital, she thought she was about to save the world, so for her to wake up with tubes in her chest and the memory of Joel’s death in her brain, what else could she do but scream and scream until they finally sedated her? Those screams are going to haunt me. Bella Ramsey continues to break me one scene at a time and it’s RUDE!

Valerie: Unlike Tommy, Ellie has yet to assimilate out of fight-or-flight mode and that poor girl screaming and crying in the hospital because all she can see is Joel dying is so heartbreaking. I once witnessed something horrible happen to a friend of mine (and not even a FRACTION has horrible as what Ellie witnessed) and I saw it every time I closed my eyes for months. My friend was ultimately fine and it still haunted me. I cannot even begin to fathom what Ellie is going through and it hurts my chest just to think about it.

Nic: Ugh, that’s brutal. And as if all of those emotions weren’t enough from the jump, the opening credits ended with Ellie standing BY HERSELF! We watched this episode together and I would give anything to have been able to see our in unison yelling and pointing at the screen when we realized. HBO, don’t make me find a golf club…

Valerie: I also would love to see our unison reaction because WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT. Salt in the wound!

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Then we get a time jump! It’s three months later and Ellie has to talk to Gail before being released from the hospital, then she returns to her Joel-less home.

A lot to unpack from this scene, eh?

Nic: I can’t remember how much time passes in the game between Joel’s death and the trek to Seattle, but I liked this time jump! When we see Ellie in the hospital her hair’s a bit longer, her lungs are a lot stronger, and her snark is just as sharp as it’s always been. She’s inches away from being discharged but first, she has to talk to Gail. And she’s SUPER not happy about it, so up goes the brick wall protecting Ellie’s feelings. With every question that Gail asks, Ellie performs the role of a well-adjusted healthy teen to the very best of her ability. And to her credit, had the words “your final moment with someone doesn’t define your whole time with them” come from anyone else, Gail might have believed her. But it’s so clear to Gail and to us that Ellie’s deflecting, but Gail lets her go anyway. And as soon as Ellie leaves the room, her mask slips off her face and she’s back in her grief.

Valerie: I don’t know why I’m getting so personal on main this week but here we go again: When I was a senior in high school I was forced to go to therapy for a little while and Ellie telling Gail what she thought she wanted to hear was exactly my approach as well. Anything to convince her everything was fine and to release me from the hell of talking about, or worse, processing hard feelings. Gail bringing up what Joel said in therapy (which…not cool but whatever) and Ellie’s flickering of emotion; she knows what Joel was talking about and she’s trying very hard not to show it. Also maybe it’s me but it felt like she was lying about the fight at the dance being their last interaction. I know we saw her walk by him on the porch, so she was at least telling Gail a partial truth, but because of her disposition the following morning, I wouldn’t be surprised if later we get a flashback to show she actually went back out to talk to him before going to bed. But maybe that’s just wishful thinking.

Nic: Wait no, I thought the same thing! Not only was Ellie’s disposition different the next morning, but the guitar was also back in her room, so I’m with you on hoping we see how that all went down after the dance.

So much of this episode is original content not in the game, but the familiarity of Ellie walking into Joel’s house gave me chills. Who knows how long it’s been since she’s actually been inside this house? Her room looks exactly as she left it, complete with astronaut and Etta James posters on the wall. She takes her time looking at everything, putting off the thing she’s been dreading: Joel’s room. When she walks in, she sees everything exactly how he’s left it, minus the box with Joel’s watch and gun on the bed presumably left by Tommy.

Valerie: I do like that this shows that Ellie did live in the house with Joel for a while before moving out to the garage, it wasn’t something she did immediately after they moved to Jackson. And about the box: I liked that the box on the bed had some dust on top. No one has been in this house since that box was left. No one has reallocated his things for town supplies the way I’m sure it eventually will, the house wasn’t reassigned to a new family (though I supposed their overcrowding issue is probably temporarily solved…), it just shows to me that the town respects Joel and Ellie and wants her to have time and closure. And I bet it’s something Maria and Tommy (with the backing of Dina and Jesse) might have had to fight for.

Nic: Whew, that’s such a great point. I feel like at any given time I can yell about the music on this show, but this scene especially, scored almost identically like the game by Gustavo Santaolalla, was so haunting and gorgeous. As the score builds we can almost watch Ellie’s walls crumble as she buries herself in the scent of Joel’s clothes and in her grief. Not many people get to see Ellie at her most vulnerable and Joel was one of the few. So no wonder it’s in his room where she finally gives herself permission to feel it all.

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Before Ellie can mourn for too long, Dina shows up with cookies and information.

Let’s discuss this entire conversation.

Valerie: This whole scene was so perfect. I feel like it really gives us insight into Ellie and Dina’s dynamic. They have some of their silent conversations (the hand motion that stops Ellie in her tracks after Dina said “I loved him, too,” the cookie truce on both sides, etc), but also important out-loud conversations. Dina proves over and over throughout this episode how well she knows Ellie, starting with the fact that she brought cookies to ease what she knows will be a hard pill to swallow, and the very fact that she kept Abby & Co.’s information from her until she was healthy enough to deal with it. Ellie can’t even be mad at her for long because Dina has an answer for all of her concerns. She keeps Ellie from ever getting to a boiling point. Ellie is also genuinely moved that Dina didn’t tell anyone else before she told Ellie. Of course, this sweet girl thinks the two of them can take on Abby & Co. alone, but I said she knows ELLIE, not that she knows everything.

Nic: I completely agree! I loved everything about this scene and the relationship between Dina and Ellie. Despite the horrors of that day and the days since, their banter is still top shelf and they know just how far to take that snark with each other. You said it exactly right, Dina KNOWS Ellie, she knew that having a solid reasoning (maybe let them get where they’re going first) for holding back that information would eventually get through to her, if not immediately. And I had a brief moment where I was afraid Ellie was going to act like her own suffering was worse than Dina’s but after that hand motion, Ellie swallowed whatever it was she might have said. Ellie doesn’t trust easily, but it’s so clear that she trusts Dina and the information she’s gathered. I love them so muuuuch!!!

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The decision has to go before the council, by way of Tommy, then get voted on before they’re given bodies and provisions to hunt Abby & Co. down.

Valerie: This whole situation is different from the game, how did you feel about it all?

Nic: On the official show podcast for the first two episodes, Craig Mazin highlighted the idea of community as a theme of this season, and I love the ways they’ve fleshed out Jackson as an example of that. Back in season one when Joel and Ellie first get to Jackson, Maria explains how the town and its council work together to keep everything moving as smoothly as possible in an apocalypse, so it’s really cool to get to see that work as well as the town’s respect for Tommy and Maria in ways that were only alluded to in the game.

I really like Jesse, but oh man Dina really nails it later in the episode when she calls him “Captain Wyoming” a la Captain America. I was a little frustrated when he wouldn’t confirm that he would have Ellie’s back at the meeting, but his advice for writing down her thoughts instead of rolling up emotions first was actually sound.

I’ve not been to town council meetings, but from what television and podcast anecdotes tell me, there is ALWAYS a Scott. Someone who refuses to stay on topic and just loves to hear themselves talk. OY WITH THE CROPS, SCOTT! The prevailing opinion seems to be that while they sympathize with Ellie’s plight, they just aren’t comfortable sending 16 of their people out on a revenge quest. Except for Homophobe Seth who surprised me AND Ellie by speaking up in favor of going after the Seattle crew.

Valerie: I love Tommy’s relationship with Ellie and Dina on this show. I love that he has a bit of a “fun but maturing uncle” vibe, where he’s talking to them on their level; he respects them and doesn’t treat them like children, but he still feels responsible for them, trying to set boundaries and get them to trust him and include him in their potentially dangerous plans. And I love how much he respects Maria and her authority and didn’t try to let them go behind the council’s back! (I also loved his distinction that Joel would cross the world to save someone he loves, but not necessarily avenge them, but breaking that down and how it sets Joel and Ellie apart, and gives Ellie something in common with Abby, would be an entirely different essay we simply don’t have time for.)

The council meeting itself was hard because I could see both sides: not wanting to send some of their best fighters out when they’re still recovering from the last attack, but also wanting to get justice for what happened to Joel. And Seth (of all people) sort of touched on this, though his reasoning was a little more emotional than practical, but if Abby & Co. knew there was a fully functioning city, what’s stopping them from gathering people and coming back to take it over? As much as I don’t, in real life, condone violence, in this post-apocalyptic world, I understand where this urge is coming from. Alas, the vote is 8 to 3, so that’s an official no from the council. Who do you think the three “yes” votes were from? Because at first I thought it was obviously Maria, Tommy, and Jesse, but Jesse kept putting his head down, like maybe he knows if Ellie goes, Dina will go, and he doesn’t want to potentially lose both of them.

Nic: That’s a great question because I also assumed it was Maria, Tommy, and Jesse, but you make a great point! When Ellie started talking, I was shocked to see she actually took Jesse’s advice, to be honest! Granted, perhaps she went a little hard on the “this is for us” and “I would do this for all of you” but I was still proud of her! Less proud of the council when those votes were read out though. The wording of the proposal distinctly mentioned sending 16 members out, not that NO ONE could go out so I mean, they can’t be too mad once they discover Ellie and Dina are going anyway, right?

Valerie: Her little speech was so sweet and it sounded like she was running for mayor. And the way Dina was also gobsmacked that she wrote a polite little speech instead of going on a rampage was also cute. I think anyone who has ever met Ellie knew damn well that vote was basically “are people coming with me or not” so I can’t imagine anyone will be surprised.

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Tommy finds Gail sitting alarmingly close to the infield at the Jackson tee-ball game, and they chat about Joel and Ellie.

We obviously have to break down this impromptu therapy session.

Nic: I think my favorite thing about Catherine O’Hara as Gail is that because she is SO good at comedy, she infuses humor into her dramatic roles in a way that makes it easy to love her. Now was this scene supposed to be funny? Probably not, but I sure did laugh when I saw her chillin’ in the middle of the field of a live tee-ball game! I hope she had a glove in that cooler because one errant hit and homegirl might have to suit up!

Valerie: Nic, why was Gail sitting in the infield!!!! I laughed so hard. She’s so ridiculous.

Nic: Gail is barely holding it together since therapists should also have their own therapist with whom they can work through all of the trauma they’re carrying, but she confirms she’s the only therapist in Jackson so booze and weed are getting her through.

I love that Tommy obviously feels comfortable enough to share his fears with Gail, even in this impromptu way. It makes sense that he’s afraid of Ellie following in Joel’s footsteps; they’ve always been two peas in a pod when it comes to charging head (and gun) first into a problem. But while I don’t completely agree with Gail’s assessment of the amount of nurture that impacts a person, I do think that Ellie was born with that fight in her.

Valerie: Calling Ellie a liar, saying nature is stronger than nurture, telling Tommy “some people can’t be saved…” Not for the first time I find myself thinking, I don’t think Gail is a particularly good therapist. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Sometimes no therapy is better than bad therapy. That said, there’s no such thing as too much Catherine O’Hara.

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While Ellie is getting ready to leave for Seattle on her own, Dina shows up with a plan and a list and the promise of assistance from an unlikely ally.

There’s a lot going on here, so let’s get into it.

Valerie: I once again am obsessed with these two. Ellie trying to leave half-cocked, Dina coming with a map and a list and a plan. They’re perfect for each other!! And there was never a doubt in Dina’s mind: When she first starts showing Ellie the route she planned out, she’s already saying it’s the path “we will follow.” She also knows her shit! From knowing they’ll need chlorine tablets to knowing Joel’s gun kicks, to knowing Ellie will not swap her Chucks for boots unless explicitly instructed. This is the kind of golden retriever/black cat energy I live for in a pairing.

Nic: Valerie, OBSESSED! Give me that Grumpy/Sunshine dynamic all day!! Ellie’s little panicked face when she first hears the knock at the door and looks around at just guns on guns on guns surrounding her…incredible work. Dina’s “Oh, Christ” when she realizes just how much “prep” Ellie’s done…perfection. When we watched, you said that Dina bringing maps and plans was Ellie’s love language and you couldn’t have been more spot on! And once Dina’s done laying out their plan, Ellie pauses to thank her. Not just thank her for doing the work, but thank her for knowing what she needed. And now Ellie knows, with proof, that she isn’t actually in this thing alone. As for the Seth of it all, I’m glad he’s letting his actions speak louder than his words; it’s the least he could do for Ellie and Dina at this point.

Valerie: I was about as happy as Ellie to see Seth but helping them get Shimmer and upgrading her sniper was pretty good as far as non-apology apologies go. I appreciate that Ellie never said “thank you” though, through the entire interaction. This is what he owed them, at minimum. But he does reach out his hand, an olive branch, before they go, and she does shake it, and I like that he is not pardoned, but he is forgiven.

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Off Ellie and Dina go, taking a pit stop at Joel’s grave, then into an adorable travel montage.

What did you like (or dislike!) about this sequence?

Nic: Does it count as a dislike if I hated Ellie leaving coffee beans at Joel’s grave because IT MADE ME FEEL THINGS AGAIN??? I can’t even fake dislike that though, because it was such a perfect callback to one of Ellie and Joel’s earliest moments of levity when he realized she hated coffee, his favorite drink in the world. You could even see Ellie smirk a little as she remembered that memory. Not one word was uttered in the scene, but Bella’s face said everything as Ellie said goodbye to the person who went from treating her like cargo to bringing her into his family. It was perfect.

Valerie: I’m glad Ellie took the time to see Joel’s grave, and I love that through her tears she did smile a little after she left those coffee beans. Because even though she came out of the womb screaming and fighting, and was basically feral when Joel met her, before long he became her safe place to smile. To tell bad jokes, to ask goofy questions. As much as they went through together, she also has so many reasons to smile when she thinks of him, and considering she’s not quick to smile in general, I loved that she took a moment to here.

Nic: Aaaand no more feelings, cue the travel music! We get to see some gorgeous landscapes as Ellie and Dina start their journey to Seattle. I couldn’t stop myself from yelling “Loot! Loot! Loot!” as they rode by so many abandoned buildings, but I’m gonna trust that Seth hooked them up to the point where looting isn’t necessary yet.

Valerie: As a goblin gamer, the urge to loot is SO REAL. I spent so much time in the game with these two on horseback, Dina yapping away while I looted every inch of the map.

Nic: I loved that they stayed true to Dina being a Chatty Cathy throughout their journey, and Ellie being fake annoyed about it. One thing I’m curious about though, when Dina asked Ellie about her first kill, she deflects about Riley and offers up the story of the guy in Kansas City, except she didn’t actually kill him right? I always assumed she knew Joel was the one who struck the killing blow so maybe she was deflecting again? Or maybe she thought her shot did cause his death.

Valerie: Maybe she knew that Joel just finished him off quicker than he would have died, and still considers his death her “fault.” Or maybe you’re right, maybe that story was just easier to tell. Also Ellie saying to Dina, “I shoot a guy and you feel sorry for ME?” and Dina responding “I’m just loyal like that” was also very cute, but also makes me wonder if Dina has ever had to kill a non-infected person, because it sounds like maybe she knows what it’s like to carry that.

Nic: Anyway, a storm is brewing and oh no, there’s only one tent! *smirk* Last week we were a bit bummed not to get the game scene of Dina and Ellie in the grow house, but the writers gave us half of it here! When Dina brings up the kiss, Ellie’s face is immediately panicked before she remembers that Dina can see her and she switches to appear nonchalant in a way that felt SO REAL. And of course, in an effort to appear chill, Ellie immediately brings up Dina being high. Now, I watched this moment several times. One thing about Dina, she loves eye contact, especially with Ellie. But after Ellie says the kiss didn’t mean anything, Dina looks away when she says “I know that” and it was TOO nonchalant for me not to immediately clock it as false. Or maybe I’m delulu. Either way, she’s way more offended over Ellie rating their kiss a “six” than someone who thought it didn’t mean anything might be, just saying.

Valerie: This whole tent scene was so cute and gay I can’t handle it. I loved Dina’s response of “I’m a witch!” when Ellie asked how she knew it was going to rain. I loved Ellie watching Dina lie down, looking like she had a thousand questions but didn’t know how to ask them. I loved Dina asking Ellie to rate her kiss. (Though I do wish she had stopped that sentence after “You’ve kissed girls before and I haven’t” because I don’t know who she’s kidding with that “You’re gay, I’m not” nonsense. We don’t have time for internalized biphobia in the apocalypse, girliepop!) Also the final insistence of “I wasn’t that high” was very flirty and I believe what I said out loud as this scene ended was, “Cue Reneé Rapp’s ‘Pretty Girls.'”

Nic: Literally though!! I’m glad you mentioned the potential internalized biphobia on Dina’s part, because my initial gut reaction to “You’re gay, I’m not” was disappointment because I think a lot of people are going to hear that and assume the show isn’t going to lean into Ellie and Dina’s love story. I cannot imagine a situation where that’s the case, and the way they’re slowly figuring this thing out feels realistic to me. Plus I mean, we love a slow burn!

Valerie: I do so love a slow burn. Give me the ANGST!

Nic: While I’m thinking about Dina, let me just say… Isabela Merced is killing it. She’s incredible at infusing lightheartedness into Dina, but in this episode especially we’ve gotten to see her be a bit more serious and introspective. In a matter of seconds she goes from snarkily confirming that she did briefly go back to Jesse in the last three months, to wondering if his sadness is buried deep within him or if it’s her who brings it out. And then she’s right back to flirtatiously telling Ellie that she wasn’t all that high when they kissed. The shifts are subtle and so, so impressive.

Valerie: When they got to the highway of cars nature is reclaiming I immediately clocked places in the game I would hide from potential danger, and you even said out loud that they should follow the yellow schoolbus, which is often how the game signals where players should head next. The apocalyptic Seattle skyline looked ripped from the game and I have to agree with Ellie: It’s awfully pretty.

Nic: Those hollowed out cars were practically ripped from the game. RIPPED! I will never not be in awe of the visuals on this show.

Valerie: Also when Ellie says she’s trying to sound like a badass and Dina LEANS IN and WHISPERS, “You don’t need to try”?????? I got 10x gayer. And based on that smirk, Ellie did, too. Isabela Merced and Bella Ramsey are perfect in these scenes of just the two of them together and I hope we get more next week.

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In this episode we learn more about Abby’s Wolves, and we are introduced to a new group of cultists. Suddenly the world of The Last of Us is expanding back out from Jackson.

What do you think of this new information, and what it could mean for the future?

Valerie: So, early in the episode we see those cultists with their weird Jesus-fish-adjacent symbol and their weird matching hair (braids for the women, bald for the men) and their matching face scars and their whistling that brought back visceral fear from playing the video game.

Nic: So far I have loved every change they’ve made from the game to the show and this one is no different. We don’t know who this new group is yet, but we do meet them much earlier than in the game. I won’t lie to you, even though I spent a lot of time hiding from these fuckers every time I heard them whistle, I didn’t put together that the different whistles meant different things until now, but it makes so much sense! Everything about this new group made my skin crawl though; from their matching scars to their unison “so it was” when talking about their Prophet.

Valerie: We then see them scatter, and later Dina and Ellie find their bodies. It makes Dina throw up (which she finds unusual; she’s seen and smelled death before) and Ellie notes the varied bullets means it’s probably not FEDRA. They wonder if it could have been Abby & Co. but the bodies don’t look 3 months decomposed to me. (And my honorary medical examiner’s license I got from watching so many hours of crime procedurals.) Though it could still be Wolves. Also, neither Ellie nor Dina heard this part, but Abby told Joel that her militia lives by a code to not kill anyone who can’t defend themselves, and I think that would include a 10-year-old with a hammer. BUT it seems like something Ellie and Dina need to believe to keep hunting them, so off they go. Of course, THEY didn’t hear their conversation like we did, so they probably aren’t asking themselves things like, who is this Prophet they speak of, what war are they running from, etc.

At the end of the episode, we learn that Abby & Co. are not the whole of the Wolves. No, they’re not even a high percentage of them. The Washington Liberation Front has tanks and guns and many, many soldiers. And I have STRESS. I think Ellie and Dina might have bitten off more than they can chew.